Last Modified: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 6:16 p.m.

Family: Widower, father of five children ages 21 to 7: Donna, Andrew, Hubert, Isabella and Victoria. Resident of Fletcher.

How did the idea of starting the Blue Ridge Bison come into being?

I have been involved in sports business in the local area as a volunteer for the past 12 years. I started out as a booster with the original Asheville Smoke Hockey team. From there I've done everything from mascot, music, contests and promotional work. In May I finished my master's degree in sports management through American Military University. I heard about the Tobacco Road Basketball League when it first started up last year, but it was too late for me to do anything with it by that point. They had a good first year, and they recently approached me to try to get a team started here for the league. I contacted the Xcel Sportsplex as a sponsor in August, not knowing at the time that they were in the process of building a 1,000-seat sports facility. The owners, Rick and Bev Moore, offered me a foot-in-the-door lease to help me get started, so the opportunity kind of fell in my lap. I also made a presentation to the Asheville Sports Commission, which is another way that word got out about this team. Usually getting the lease and the right building is the hard part and the financing has already come through, but in my case, I've got the lease now and we're seeking financing through sponsorships.

How has the timeline been with your involvement with the league?

We're looking at getting a team starting this March, but before that can happen we're looking to get sponsorships. We have a provisional membership now. … All the teams are currently in the Carolinas and will most likely expand to surrounding states in the next couple of years. Each one of the four teams has until Dec. 1 to prove financial sustainability to have their team. The league can go without us, which is a good sign of stability, but we're at the point now with Blue Ridge Bison where we need sponsors and commitments of sponsors to be able to move forward after Dec. 1. Everything else is in place.

How much sponsorship will be needed to move forward?

My estimated budget for this first year is just $12,000. Some of the teams in the league choose to pay their players, but for our first year, we have suggested that we do not pay players. We also will not be paying a coach. I do anticipate that if we get our foot in the door and have a good year, we'll be able to pay them; I'd like to try to make it a league requirement. But this is just the second year for the league, and they don't want to make a commitment they can't fulfill before getting through their second solid year. My budget is actually a lot smaller because I don't have to buy a facility, most of the equipment will already be there and we're only going to have six games for the first season. If all the expansion teams come in, we will have 12 teams in the league, but they have split them up into two conferences of six each. This will make the travel expenses even more minimal. We have several sponsorship packages for sponsors to choose from. Sponsors' support will be answered with tickets, advertising and continued involvement with the team. Four or five years ago, Ken Silver tried to bring a summer woodbat baseball league to Hendersonville, which the city actually approved with an incentive package of $750,000. Unfortunately, Mr. Silver had already chosen Forest City because of a better package, but there they only bring in $2,000 per game for a college woodbat league. To put things into perspective, their market is much smaller than ours, so this is more than doable.

How will tryouts work?

We will have tryouts on March 2 at Xcel, assuming everything moves forward, and we're hoping to have 50 to 60 players try out. We will have three to four morning practices per week and will play one to two games per weekend from late March through June. Most of the league's teams are in the central part of the Carolinas, so we've got a fertile recruiting ground for players in this area. Tryouts will be open to adults 18 and older, as long as they don't have any potential NCAA eligibility issues that need to be worked out.

Next year we want to start an adult basketball league, called Blue Ridge Basketball League, immediately after Asheville Recreation Department's season ends. We also would like to start a youth basketball program. I worked with Western Carolina legend Henry Logan on his youth basketball program, so I do have a good understanding of how it works. The idea is to keep players in shape playing somewhat similar NBA pro-style rules, and if there is a vacancy on the Bison, we can call them up immediately.

The point of this team and this league is to give players a legitimate chance to move up to the international leagues or the NBA Development League, which we used to have here in the Asheville Altitude.

What are you most excited about with the start-up of this team?

We've got everything else in place, but we just need sponsorships by Dec. 1 to move forward. We're having a public meeting at Xcel on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. to give a tour of the new facility to the public and let people know where we stand to this point, and to get people excited. The league wants us here; this is the second-best facility in the league, and I would hate for this opportunity to go away.

I'm excited about an opportunity to show how minor league basketball is supposed to be done. We're starting from the grassroots level and working up, just like the Blue Ridge Rollergirls did.

If people are interested in finding out more information sponsorships or tickets, they can visit our Web site at www.blueridgebison.com. They can also come to the meeting on Thursday at Xcel Sportsplex.

<p><b>Name</b>: Dennis Justice</p><p>Age: 42</p><p><b>Occupation</b>: President, Terran Sports LLC, a sports management and production company; president, Blue Ridge Bison Minor League Basketball team.</p><p><b>Family</b>: Widower, father of five children ages 21 to 7: Donna, Andrew, Hubert, Isabella and Victoria. Resident of Fletcher.</p><p><b>How did the idea of starting the Blue Ridge Bison come into being?</b></p><p>I have been involved in sports business in the local area as a volunteer for the past 12 years. I started out as a booster with the original Asheville Smoke Hockey team. From there I've done everything from mascot, music, contests and promotional work. In May I finished my master's degree in sports management through American Military University. I heard about the Tobacco Road Basketball League when it first started up last year, but it was too late for me to do anything with it by that point. They had a good first year, and they recently approached me to try to get a team started here for the league. I contacted the Xcel Sportsplex as a sponsor in August, not knowing at the time that they were in the process of building a 1,000-seat sports facility. The owners, Rick and Bev Moore, offered me a foot-in-the-door lease to help me get started, so the opportunity kind of fell in my lap. I also made a presentation to the Asheville Sports Commission, which is another way that word got out about this team. Usually getting the lease and the right building is the hard part and the financing has already come through, but in my case, I've got the lease now and we're seeking financing through sponsorships.</p><p><b>How has the timeline been with your involvement with the league?</b></p><p>We're looking at getting a team starting this March, but before that can happen we're looking to get sponsorships. We have a provisional membership now. … All the teams are currently in the Carolinas and will most likely expand to surrounding states in the next couple of years. Each one of the four teams has until Dec. 1 to prove financial sustainability to have their team. The league can go without us, which is a good sign of stability, but we're at the point now with Blue Ridge Bison where we need sponsors and commitments of sponsors to be able to move forward after Dec. 1. Everything else is in place.</p><p><b>How much sponsorship will be needed to move forward?</b></p><p>My estimated budget for this first year is just $12,000. Some of the teams in the league choose to pay their players, but for our first year, we have suggested that we do not pay players. We also will not be paying a coach. I do anticipate that if we get our foot in the door and have a good year, we'll be able to pay them; I'd like to try to make it a league requirement. But this is just the second year for the league, and they don't want to make a commitment they can't fulfill before getting through their second solid year. My budget is actually a lot smaller because I don't have to buy a facility, most of the equipment will already be there and we're only going to have six games for the first season. If all the expansion teams come in, we will have 12 teams in the league, but they have split them up into two conferences of six each. This will make the travel expenses even more minimal. We have several sponsorship packages for sponsors to choose from. Sponsors' support will be answered with tickets, advertising and continued involvement with the team. Four or five years ago, Ken Silver tried to bring a summer woodbat baseball league to Hendersonville, which the city actually approved with an incentive package of $750,000. Unfortunately, Mr. Silver had already chosen Forest City because of a better package, but there they only bring in $2,000 per game for a college woodbat league. To put things into perspective, their market is much smaller than ours, so this is more than doable.</p><p><b>How will tryouts work?</b></p><p>We will have tryouts on March 2 at Xcel, assuming everything moves forward, and we're hoping to have 50 to 60 players try out. We will have three to four morning practices per week and will play one to two games per weekend from late March through June. Most of the league's teams are in the central part of the Carolinas, so we've got a fertile recruiting ground for players in this area. Tryouts will be open to adults 18 and older, as long as they don't have any potential NCAA eligibility issues that need to be worked out.</p><p>Next year we want to start an adult basketball league, called Blue Ridge Basketball League, immediately after Asheville Recreation Department's season ends. We also would like to start a youth basketball program. I worked with Western Carolina legend Henry Logan on his youth basketball program, so I do have a good understanding of how it works. The idea is to keep players in shape playing somewhat similar NBA pro-style rules, and if there is a vacancy on the Bison, we can call them up immediately. </p><p>The point of this team and this league is to give players a legitimate chance to move up to the international leagues or the NBA Development League, which we used to have here in the Asheville Altitude.</p><p><b>What are you most excited about with the start-up of this team?</b></p><p>We've got everything else in place, but we just need sponsorships by Dec. 1 to move forward. We're having a public meeting at Xcel on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. to give a tour of the new facility to the public and let people know where we stand to this point, and to get people excited. The league wants us here; this is the second-best facility in the league, and I would hate for this opportunity to go away.</p><p>I'm excited about an opportunity to show how minor league basketball is supposed to be done. We're starting from the grassroots level and working up, just like the Blue Ridge Rollergirls did.</p><p>If people are interested in finding out more information sponsorships or tickets, they can visit our Web site at www.blueridgebison.com. They can also come to the meeting on Thursday at Xcel Sportsplex.</p>